The present invention relates to a machine support which includes a device for controlling an angle of a supported tool.
Although any application of the machine support is contemplated within the scope of the invention, for definiteness, the present invention is described in the environment of pile driver machines. In this environment, the pile driver machine includes means to tilt a machine support and therewith dispose a desired axis of the pile driver machine in a desired angular relationship to a pile gripped by the machine support.
Pile driving is an activity associated with a wide range of industrial activities such as constructing building foundations, erecting tidal flow incursion barriers etc. In erecting a pile course, piles are driven individually into the ground in a, e.g., longitudinal succession of such. Other than longitudinal courses also are used where deviation from the longitudinal is necessary to follow a ground contour change. Further, a given longitudinal course will have an end point whereat a new course, for example disposed at a right angle to the first will be driven this being a common occurrence where a pile enclosure of encircling character is required.
Further practice involves providing shaped and mating interengageable or interlockable longitudinal side edges on the pile workpieces to allow production of a contiguous and well-aligned pile course, a result particularly called for where the course is to establish a water barrier as at waterfront site location. Cross section configurations of the piles most usually will be of channel shape although other and special purpose cross sections for piles are well known.
Driving of the piles for many years was effected with a pile driver unit powered by steam, cable lift or other means which functioned to lift a heavy weight driver block to a height above the top end of a generally vertically disposed pile workpiece held at the location at which it was to be driven into the ground. The lifted weight driver would then be released to fall along a guided course until it struck the top of the workpiece transferring the kinetic energy of the falling weight driver into the pile workpiece as a force driving the pile workpiece downwardly a short distance into the ground with each strike. This cycle of weight driver lifting and release was repeated until the pile workpiece was driven the required distance below ground or seabed level.
Attending this practice was creation of great and frequently damage producing levels of noise and vibration, conditions accepted because there was no viable or practical alternative manner known for pile driving. Vibration incident pile driving operations always has on occasion, damaged or even demolished buildings and other structures in the vicinity of the driving operation. Noise not only is bothersome to humans living or working near the pile driving, but it also has caused physical injury to some.
Some years back there was introduced apparatus for driving piles in an essentially noiseless, vibration-free operation. With this apparatus, a pile workpiece is held or securely gripped in the chuck of a work holder. Driving of the workpiece into the ground is then carried out by stroking of hydraulic cylinders attached to the work holder. At the end of each stroke, the chuck is released, moved upward and re-clamped on the workpiece to continue downward driving with a new stroke. Since the operating pressure of the hydraulic cylinders is very high being, e.g., about 350 kg per centimeter squared, a pile easily is pressed or pushed down into the ground, this being done without any measurable noise creation or manifestation of vibration. Exemplary of this type of pile driver apparatus are TSM type units made and sold by Tosa Machinery Industries Co., Ltd of Kochi City, Japan under the name STILL WORKER, one of ordinary skill in the art being well aware of the construction and function features of such machines.
During operation of the TSM apparatus, a carriage on which the work holder and driving cylinders are mounted and set on a table or support are clamped to a line of plural ones of previously driven piles so that these previously driven piles anchor the carriage against any upward movement as a reaction to the downward driving force exerted in the driving of a pile. The apparatus also works to "walk" along the pile course since the table or support can be unclamped at a location on the piles and slid along on a further number of the driven piles to a new table clamping location while the carriage structure is being supported with the work holder structure on a frontmost (last driven) one of the piles.
This apparatus embodies means to tilt the chuck to a limited degree (about 5 degrees) with respect to the table at the fore and aft apparatus ends as viewed along the driving course plane. This assures that the vertical axis of the pile is driven (in the dimension of the plane) with the verticality to a horizontal datum plane as desired or intended. It is desirable that apparatus of this type also be provided with means to ensure proper maintenance of pile vertical axis disposition in a plane of a second dimension crosswise to the first, i.e., and which means allow easy tilting of the carriage to the left and right sides of same to accomplish this and further, that such means be useful in respect of orienting components such as tool holders, workpieces of other types and purpose apparatus where simplicity and surety of orientation accomplishment are essential.